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by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey    Script- Simon Furman Pencils- Will Simpson Inks- Tim Perkins Letters- Richard Starkings Colours- Gina Hart Editor- Ian Rimmer SynopsisUnicron surveys the aftermath, 20 years in the past, that has been brought about by his machinations, whilst on Cybertron, Volcano is good to go. That is, until Megatron, who has recently been liberated from beneath the wreckage of Galvatron's solar powered laser cannon by Laserbeak, pulls the plug on the operation. However, a rogue Decepticon, by the name of Macabre, goes into business for himself, and attempts to assassinate Emirate Xaaron anyway, which results in Impactor taking a fatal bullet for his leader and old friend. Dave So here we are at the end of this series; the final issue, and note that Geoff Senior has taken the helm for the cover. Kev Yep, we’re finally here, 11 issues later, at the end of ‘Target: 2006.’ It’s a pretty typical Senior composition, but one that’s probably had a massive influence on how I pose my Transformers toys. What do you make of it? Dave His work is instantly recognisable, and he really does have a flamboyance to his work. I love the poses on the cover. It's top notch. Kev Will Simpson is on interiors again for this 'Epilogue,' and he opens with a nice splash page of the smouldering wreckage of Galvatron’s solar powered laser cannon. It features some superb, bold colour work, by the returning Gina Hart as well.  The best laid plans of mice and.....giant transforming robots. Dave It is a great opening page, and by this stage, you can see the pool of talent that they have to swap around in the art department at Marvel UK. Furman is leading us into the narrative of Unicron finally. The very cunning plan of Unicron. Kev Yeh, Furman’s use of Unicron to provide the ‘story so far’ catch-up over the first three or so pages is very cleverly done. You could've picked up this issue as your first, and even as the “epilogue” to 'Target: 2006,' this would still have made enough sense for you to follow. Richard Starkings’ lettering for Unicron’s internal monologue here is particularly fitting for a character as unique as The Chaos Bringer. You can hear Orson Welles' voice when you read it. Dave Oh yeah, he's a real deceptive one is Unicron. You can see why they named them ‘Decepticons’ though, as they are deceptive on all levels. Even to each other. Kev Definitely. I like Simpson’s use of the repeated panel to show Galvatron inspecting Starscream’s shattered corpse, with only the backgrounds of Earth 1986, and Cybertron 2006, being any different.
Dave It's also a testament to how good a writer Furman is; basically tying up what is essentially a complex time travel story, without it going into the realms of losing your audience with some ludicrous ideas. Kev Yeh. The time travel elements of the story haven't gotten too convoluted. At least not yet. I do think it’s funny that Unicron describes, who I assume is Smokescreen, as having “...the most accessible mind…” Ha, ha! Not exactly a glowing endorsement. Dave He is one methodical planner, this Unicron. I like how the first 4 pages are all his narrative, then at the top of page 4, it abruptly ends with another direct link to the movie. As in, “Go see it!” Kev Oh yeh. We're still shilling tickets for 'The Movie,' at this point for sure. "At a cinema near you- soon." Dave Not so subtle, eh? Kev Ha, ha! About as subtle as a brick to the face. It's not exactly subliminal advertising. Dave In saying that, it easily allows the Unicron narrative to end there. No further explanation needed. So really, most of the events were at Unicron’s hand of manipulation. Kev So it would seem, yeh. It certainly answers my question, from all the way back to the end of 'Defeat,' as to who had released Starscream from his “cold storage” aboard the Ark. If it wasn’t Unicron himself, it was one of his mind-controlled agents. Probably Smokescreen. Dave Furman quickly jumps into the crux of this issue with Magnus, and how. “Operation: Volcano has begun!”  Aren't we all, facsimile constructs? Aren't we all? Kev Yeh, Furman's not exactly adverse to quickly cutting between settings, is he? 'Cause now we’re back on Cybertron for Operation: Volcano. That's a nice little Insecticon connection, with Kickback being the one to take the bait here, considering it was Shrapnel who did it all the way back in the Prologue. We're definitely racing towards the finish line now, aren't we? Dave Yeah, we definitely are. There is a lot depending on Operation: Volcano going well for the Autobots. Both sides are heavily invested in the Cybertron power struggle. Kev Yeh. The battle for control of the old home world is of the utmost importance to both factions. It's interesting that Furman keeps Optimus Prime’s return off-panel here, so that he can make more of it, storywise, in issue 100. Dave And, as usual, we still have bickering Autobots throughout this issue. Kev We certainly do. The internal conflict between members of both factions was always something I really enjoyed about Furman's work. It made all of these fantastical characters just that little bit more relatable. Dave Plus, it illustrates the need for a strong, reliable leader for the Autobots, to pull everyone together. Kev Absolutely. The Autobots have been shown to be pretty useless without someone at the helm, pretty much all the way through 'Target: 2006,' haven't they? Dave Yeah, and they’re even dubious of Ultra Magnus. Although they are the good guys, they are most certainly flawed good guys/robots. Kev Yep, they certainly all have their flaws alright. Macabre’s design by Simpson is great here. I’m not sure that it makes the most sense as a Transformer, as in, what on Earth, or Cybertron even, would his alt mode be, but he looks nasty all the same.  They say they want to do what to Xaaron for information, Macabre? Dave Yeah, Simpsons’ rugged style of drawing gives a different look to the story. Kev For sure. He gives it a totally different vibe, especially when compared to the clean lines of Jeff Anderson, or Geoff Senior. I love how as soon as Megatron is freed by from under the wreckage of Galvatron’s weapon by Laserbeak, he immediately starts messing other people’s plans up. And I also love how he ends a video chat by saying “Megatron out!” What a douchebag. Dave Yep, the return of Megatron. I always kind-of compared Megatron to Cobra Commander. Two douchebags in charge of the bad guys. Kev Ha, ha! That's a fair point, man. Megatron was maybe less whiny though. Dave In terms of the egotistical rambling, I would say they were similar, but yeah, Megatron is definitely less whiny. Kev It’s probably also worth noting that neither Furman’s A story on Earth, or his B story with Operation: Volcano on Cybertron, end with huge payoffs. There’s no massive battle to end either of them. That's not to say that they don't both end with a bang though, what with Galvatron’s weapon being blown up on Earth, and Impactor being blown in half on Cybertron. In some ways it feels like a bit of an anti-climax, whereas in other ways, it just makes you all the more intrigued to see how things will pan-out in future issues. Which, of course, they’re trying to get you to stick around for, and to buy. It’s interesting long-form storytelling. It’s all middle, I suppose. Dave I think it's just as long as the outcome doesn't effect the movie story, and yeah, to keep you invested in the series as well. Kev True. Furman is still having to dance around the events of 'The Movie.' I suppose. Dave And there is still room for a little bit of action, with the attempted destruction on Xaaron. Kev Yeh, just enough time and space for a tiny, little action scene. I do feel that the wrapping-up of these plots is somewhat rushed. I think Furman and co. could probably have been doing with another issue to expand on them a bit more. Or maybe a double sized issue here, or something. As long as it wasn’t the last-part-in the-annual situation, like they did the following year with ‘Wanted: Galvatron. Dead Or Alive,’ ‘cause I think that just pissed everyone off. Well, it certainly did me. Although, I was starting to cool off on the American stories a bit by that point, if I'm being honest, and had started to drop in and out of collecting the title. Which, oddly enough, led to me missing a lot of the epic UK stories as time went on. Timing has never been my forte, apparently. Even as far back as when I was 9 or 10. That’s a cracking panel of Impactor getting blown in half, by Simpson though.  "Tis but a scratch." Dave It is indeed, and Impactor’s final words close off that section. “You- ack! - Always were… a wily… old… buzzard…” I do like that panel of him "dead," (You know what I mean. He's a fucking machine. But “dead" in storyline terms.) and all the Autobots looking over him. I love that the panel is shown from an aerial view. It’s quite a powerful image.  The Death Of Optimus Pr...., sorry the first death of the Autobot who died twice. Kev Yeh, it's a cracking panel. It's absolutely fantastic storytelling by Furman, Simpson, Perkins, Hart and Starkings. I love how, just by simply having no speech bubbles, or thought bubbles, or caption boxes in that panel, it manages to convey silence, in what is always a silent medium anyway. I fucking love comics, man. Dave Then onto the final page, and we actually see Prime. Kev Yep, Prime is back, giving one of his motivational speeches, trying to rally the troops. Like Phil Jackson and the '90's Chicago Bulls. Dave Yeah, that last page is Prime all over, never backing down, but accepting events as they have transpired, and reminding the Autobots about the value of sticking together. And the last panel of him claiming, "The Autobots Will Prevail" says it all. He is doing the old Titanic pose. "I'm the king of the world!" It's a great panel to end the series on, with Prime standing there, arms extended, against a plain-coloured background, and we, the reader, are looking up at this huge, powerful robot. Kev Great. Now all I can hear is Celine Dion singing 'My Heart Will Go On.' Dave Haha! Thanks for putting that song in my head. I had forgotten all about that song until you mentioned it. Kev Ha, ha! You started it. Turnaround is fair play, as they say. Still, this is an epic, and rightfully so, it's considered a classic. Not only because it ties into what was, certainly up until that point, THE biggest thing to happen to The Transformers as a franchise, in ‘The Movie,’ but also because it proved that The Transformers, as a comic, could be more than it had been up until that point. It showed that it could be more ambitious, bigger in scope, handle more grand themes, and that the UK version could come out of the shadow of its American counterpart somewhat, and stand on its own two feet. And much of all that was thanks to ‘The Movie’ cast, and how successfully Furman used them in ‘Target: 2006,’ that the UK comic now had the tools, and the confidence, to begin to chart and carve its own path. Dave That's a great point. Kev What did you think of this epilogue issue, and 'Target: 2006' as a whole, in the end then? Dave It was a lot of fun to read. It had some fantastic issues in it, and I think we discussed the setting/location in the earlier issues, and just how much I liked them. Those bright, vast, sprawling deserts, which as kids just made us want to go walking and exploring even more. I like the series. It's certainly a pivotal turning point, it was well put together, and I think the UK team behind it, in terms of writing, drawing, colours etc. is excellent, and would probably piss on the US stuff. So did you never collect any of the US series? Kev That was the great thing about the UK comic; you didn't need to get the US comic, 'cause the UK one reprinted all those issues anyway. In fact, the UK stories were really only started as a way to give the US comic enough time to build up enough of a lead, to then be reprinted every week in the UK comic again for a little while. But the UK strips started to supersede the US one pretty quickly, in terms of quality At least, they did in my opinion. And 'Target: 2006' was the cementing of that. It just made the UK stories seem so much more epic in scale, and as a result, so much more intriguing and exciting. (D) & (K) The end.  The Autobot who died.....let's face it, everybody lost count a looooong time ago.
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